WINONA, Minn. — Saint Mary's started by sweeping the three doubles matches, and the Cardinals women's tennis team never looked back en route to an 8-1 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory over Bethel Thursday evening.

"It was a good win for us," said SMU coach Jeff Halberg of his team's first-ever dual-meet win over the Royals. "We dominated the three doubles matches to start things off and just kept going from there."

Nicole Hilio (Mendota Heights, Minn.) and Kim Bennett (Rockwell City, Iowa) kicked things off with an 8-4 win at No. 1 doubles, following by an 8-4 triumph at No. 2 by Anna Tomes (Stillwater, Minn .) and Dena Bing (Cannon Falls, Minn.), and an 8-2 win at No. 3 by Christina Tobin (Houston, Texas) and Keely Nyquist (Orono, Minn.) at No. 3.

The singles matches weren't quite as easy, but SMU still managed wins at No. 1 (Hilo), No. 3 (Bennett), No. 4 (Tomes), Nop. 5 (Bing) and No. 6 (Emily Strom (Waterford, Wis.)). Only Tomes and Strom won in straight sets, the other three singles wins went hte maximum three sets.

Singles
1. Nicole Hilo (S) d. Kim Carlson, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6
2. Jodi Gustafson (B) d. Christina Tobin, 4-6, 6-1, 6-4
3. Kim Bennett (S) d. Lindsey Eggimann, 6-0, 3-6, 6-2
4. Anna Tomes (S) d. Hannah Brandes, 6-2, 6-2
5. Dena Bing (S) d. Megan Huston, 2-6, 6-3, 6-0
6. Emily Strom (S) d. Katie Hendel, 6-3, 6-1

Doubles
1. Hilo-Bennett (S) d. Carlson-Lindsey Davis, 8-4
2. Tomes-Bing (S) d. Brandes-Gustafson, 8-4
3. Tobin-Keely Nyquist (S) d. Eggmann-Huston, 8-2